HOW TO PLAY

> STEP 01 ENTER THE ARENA

Hit PLAY CHESS. You get a guest identity instantly (a handle like PLAYER 042) with no forms and no wallet. Your identity and rating stick to this browser.

> STEP 02 PICK YOUR LANE

PLAY VS HOODBOT is free practice against the house AI: real rules, zero stakes. RANKED QUEUE matches you with the next real player in line and plays for rating and epoch score.

> STEP 03 MOVE YOUR PIECES

Click one of your pieces: lime dots mark every legal destination, rings mark captures. Click a dot to move. When a pawn reaches the last rank you pick the promotion piece. The last move stays highlighted; a red square means a king is in check.

> STEP 04 RESPECT THE CLOCK

8 minutes each, no increment. The clocks live on the server, so pausing your browser pauses nothing. Hit zero and you lose on time.

> STEP 05 END THE GAME

Win by checkmate, on time, or when your opponent resigns or walks out. [DRAW?] offers a draw; [RESIGN] asks twice. Checkmate pays the most epoch score; see the tiers below.

> STEP 06 DROPPED? COME BACK

Refresh or lose connection mid-game and you have 45 seconds to return before you forfeit. Reopen the page and the server puts you straight back on the board.

> STEP 07 GET PAID

Every 2 hours the epoch locks and the top 10 by epoch score split the 100,000 $CHESS pool. Claims open 10 minutes after the close and EXPIRE when the next epoch closes: late rewards are 20% burned, 80% rolled into the next pot. Claiming needs wallet connect and the 100k bought-on-Letscash holder gate.